Apparatus for the concentration of ore



J. T. TERRY, Jn.

APPARATUS TON TNT coNcENTNATToN oT ORE.

APPLICATlON FILED AUG.7, 19|?. l 5?@175463, Patentedept. 30', 1919.

A i? 5mm g IlllllllllllllllllllllIIIIllllllllllllllllll JOSEPH T. TERRY,JB., 0F MASCOT, TENNESSEE.

APPARATUS Eon THE CONCENTRATION or OEE.

Speci'cation of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 30, 1919.

applicati@ mea August?, 1917. serial No. 184,821.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, JOSEPH T'. TERRY, r., a citizen of the UnitedvStates of America, residing at Mascot, in the county of Knox, State ofTennessee,phave invented certain new and useful Improvements inApparatus for the Concentration of Ore, of which the following is aspecication.

This invention relates primarily to a preferred appliance for .carryingout such a process as that described and claimed-in my co-pendingapplication for patent led March 24, 1917, `Serial Number. 157,188,wherein finely' crushed ore is treated with water, oils and chemicalsfor the purpose of effecting a separation of the valuable andnon-valuable elements by the aid of air or other gas subsequentlyincorporated into the mixture, and the prime object of the invention isthe provision of an apparatus, embracing means for mixing the ore andwater with the modifying reagent or reagents out of contact with air orunder a partial vacuum, and novel devices for introducing gaseous fluidinto the mixture.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent uplon consideration ofthe following portions of this specification and the appended claims. v

In the accompanying drawing, wherein like numerals refer to like artsthroughout the several views, Figure 1 1s a sectional elevation of thecomplete apparatus; Fig. 2 a top-plan view of a detail of the apparatus,ltaken along line 2 2 of Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 isa sectional enlargement ofa portion of Fig. 2 illustrating the relation of certain pipes andsprings and the means employed ,for securing said springs upon thepipes.

Referring to the drawing, 1 denotes a common type of ball-mill in whichthe rough ore collected from hopper 2-by scoop 3 is finely crushed inthe presence of water and shall hereinafter be termed the pulp -Beingejected from funnel 4 into trough 5 the pulp is conducted by a pipe 6into a box 7, and thence by pipe 8 into an air-tight stationary drum 9containing paddles 10 fixed upon revolving shaft 11 driven by means ofpulleys 12---122l and belts 181-13. It will be observed that a smalltank 14 is connected with pipe 8 by pipe 15 and that the flow of thecontents of this tank is controlled 'by a valve 16.

Passing from drum 9 the pulp is conveyed by pipe 17 to a tank 18 whichis open above i and fitted with a launder 19 to receive the overflow, itbeing noted that the inclined Hoor of said tank communicates with adrain 20.

A constant level of the fluid in box 7 and tank 18 is maintained throughthe agency of float-valves 21%22 which are pivoted to brackets 23-24andcontrol the lower extremi-ty of pipe 8 and the mouthof drain 20.

Disposed opposite the lower -portion of tank 18 is a pressure-fluidsupply-pipe 25 having lateral extensions 26-27, the latter beingconnected by smaller pipes 28 which are projected transversely throughsaid tank as best shown in Fig. 2. By vreference to Fig. 3 itv will benoted that the central portion of each pipe 28 is perforated as at 29and that these perforations are covered by helical springs"30 which areof larger internal diameter than the external diameter of said pipes.rI`l1e extremities of 'these springs are covered with cup-shapedflexible sleeves 80H of rubber, canvas or oiled leather which fitclosely about the imperforate sections of pipes 28 and thus prevent theescape of the pressure-fluid at those points, while permittinglongitudinal expansion of the springs to a limited extent.

Having thus pointed out the construction and arrangement of theapparatus, its operation may be described as follows: Tank 18having'been filled with water and vtank 14 having been filled with aySuitable mineral collecting and froth forming agent, the mill 1 is thenset in motion and the pulp flowing from funnel 4 into trough 5 isconveyed by pipe 6 to box 7 and thence. drawn up through pipe 8 intodrum 9 by the vacuum created by the unequal hydrostatic head in pipes 8and 17. Valve 16 having been opened, it follows that the pulp traversingpipe 8 is mixed with the froth forming agent supplied by tank 14, andupon reaching the interior of drum 9 the mixture is thoroughly agitatedand the ingredients thereof intimately combined by the vaction ofpaddles 10 rapidly driven by shaft 11. Passing from drum 9 the mixtureis conveyed by pipe 17 to the open tank 18 and discharged beneath thewater line immediately above a stationary cone-shaped member 18a servingto spread or distribute the flow from said pipe. Being thus distributed,the mixturegravitates toward drain 20 and in passing between springs 30is thoroughly aerated by the flow of air'or other gas which is suppliedl(under pressure) by pipe 25 and forced from the pe-rforations 29 ofpipes 28 through the interstices of said springs, the gas thus injectedserving to convert the mixture to which reference is made (i, e., theore, water and modifying reagent in combination) into a froth or mass ofoil-filmed bubbles.. These bubbles, which have the property ofattracting and retaining in suspension the line metalliferous particlespresent in the pulp, rise to the water level and flow over the edge oftank 18 into the launder 19, While the gangue gravitates to the bottomof said tank.

Pipe 3l may be connected to a vacuum pump or may, under certainconditions, be employed to supply Water.

An important feature of this invention lies in the fact, above stated,that drum 9 is airetight and that means are provided for exhausting theair therefrom, for I have discovered that a greater recovery of themetalliferous elements is attained by mixing the -pulp and modifyingreagent in a vessel from which air or other gas is excluded or under aIpartial vacuum, my' investigations having determined that the presenceof airduring the operation in question serves to obstruct that intimatecombination of the ore particles with said reagent which is sought to beachieved and upon which the commercial success of the process defined inmy co-pending application or any process of the same general charactermust largely depend.

A. further feature to which l attach prime importance is the meansemployed for aerating and frothing the mixture, as above described, itbeing observed by reference to F ig. 3 that the springs thus referred tonot only prevent the clogging of the perfor-ate sections of pipes 28,but are so connected to said pipes by flexible sleeves 29 as to permittheir automatic expansion in response to any substantial increase in thepressure of the air supply..

Having thus fully described the apparatus, what I claim as new anddesire to secure by Letters-Patent is 1. An apparatus for theconcentration of minerals by flotation, comprising a tank communicatingwith asource of ore supply, pressure-Huid supply-pipes embracingperforate elements projecting Within said tank to aerate the contentsthereof, and helical springs inclosing said elements adapted todistribute said fluid.

2. An'apparatus for the concentration of minerals by flotation,comprising a tank communicating with a source of ore supply,pressure-fluid supply-pipes embracing perforate elements projectingWithin said tank to aerate the contents thereof, helical springsinolosing said elements adapted to distribute said fluid, and ieXibleconnective members between said pipes and the ends of said springspermitting expansion of the latter.

JOSEPH T. TERRY, JR. Witnesses:

G. C. BUSH, HARRY L. LAWSON.

